Last month Misty Copeland marked a milestone for American ballet.
As the first African-American principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, she has been cast into the public image as an agent of change; but her early passion for the art tells a different life’s tale.
While speaking to Rolling Stone, Copeland said, “ballet became this escape for me…ballet became a way for me to cope.”
At 32 years of age, she looks back on her early life with clarity knowing how those experiences shaped herself as a person and dancer.
Living in and out of motels during a tumultuous childhood, Copeland used her imagination to draw her far away what was happening around her.
Using a balcony railing as a practice barre, Copeland admitted, “I would pretend I was in the ballet studio and give myself a ballet class to get away from everything.”
Now sitting close to the top of her craft, Copeland is simply excited for the social implications of her recent accomplishment.
